I collect vintage books and comics, and mold is something I have to constantly be wary of. Not surprised to hear it affects VHS collecting, too. Hope you're able to salvage your tapes!
Mold thrives on moisture. If you have a dedicated room for your collection, keep it dry. Maybe consider a dehumidifier to keep moisture low. Dust regularly, air it out once in a while. Additionally, there are VHS tape cleaning units out there if you look around, although I haven't personally used them. As for your VCR, cleaning them isn't too hard. They can be opened up and cleaned with q-tips doused in cleaning solution. Alternatively you can grab a VHS cleaning tape and run that through your VCR.
Hey man, I really appreciate all this info! I've been a stressed maniac the last 24 hours thinking I'm gonna ruin my whole collection😂. So I have one of those head cleaning tapes and popped it in a few times yesterday and this morning after possible exposure to mold. Everything seems to be working currently. Anything else I should or could do for preventative measures? It's also a Pansonic built in, so cleaning is exponentially harder. Should I be at all worried mold will grow in my vcr over time? Also fwiw, I think I have a relatively good environment for physical media. NYC bedroom with air con in window where tiny amount of air gets in the bi fold and keeps it cool.
@@MylesofHorror The biggest preventative measure you can take is to prevent mold from getting into the VCR. Inspect and clean all tapes when you acquire them. Periodically shine a flashlight into the VCR port to see if anything is growing in there. It is unlikely in a climate controlled room but VHS is a dead format and the tapes can be upwards of forty years old, so it doesn't hurt to be careful. Try not to stress too much, this is supposed to be fun!
I clean moldy tapes all the time-the key is to use a vcr exclusively just for cleaning moldy tapes. Do not run moldy tapes through your daily viewing vcr. It is time consuming to repair moldy tapes but worth it! Also-I cleaned a Clownhouse tape that was caked with mold. You wouldn't even know it was bad. Sticky tape syndrome is much worse than mold!
Dude, I really appreciate that feedback many thanks! I've literally been driving myself MAD about this mold stuff lol. I gotta remember to just chill out and have fun with it. I get entirely freaked I'm gonna ruin my collection constantly lol. It's gonna take me some time but I'm definitely gonna try and learn to clean tapes and mold, etc. I also can't help thinking that I might have accidentally put a specky or slightly molded tape into my current vcr, any advice?
I collect vintage books and comics, and mold is something I have to constantly be wary of. Not surprised to hear it affects VHS collecting, too. Hope you're able to salvage your tapes!
Hell yeahh dudee. It's definitely a thing lol. Appreciate it, brother and thanks for the love as always!🤙🏻
Mold thrives on moisture. If you have a dedicated room for your collection, keep it dry. Maybe consider a dehumidifier to keep moisture low. Dust regularly, air it out once in a while. Additionally, there are VHS tape cleaning units out there if you look around, although I haven't personally used them. As for your VCR, cleaning them isn't too hard. They can be opened up and cleaned with q-tips doused in cleaning solution. Alternatively you can grab a VHS cleaning tape and run that through your VCR.
Hey man, I really appreciate all this info! I've been a stressed maniac the last 24 hours thinking I'm gonna ruin my whole collection😂. So I have one of those head cleaning tapes and popped it in a few times yesterday and this morning after possible exposure to mold. Everything seems to be working currently. Anything else I should or could do for preventative measures? It's also a Pansonic built in, so cleaning is exponentially harder. Should I be at all worried mold will grow in my vcr over time? Also fwiw, I think I have a relatively good environment for physical media. NYC bedroom with air con in window where tiny amount of air gets in the bi fold and keeps it cool.
@@MylesofHorror The biggest preventative measure you can take is to prevent mold from getting into the VCR. Inspect and clean all tapes when you acquire them. Periodically shine a flashlight into the VCR port to see if anything is growing in there. It is unlikely in a climate controlled room but VHS is a dead format and the tapes can be upwards of forty years old, so it doesn't hurt to be careful. Try not to stress too much, this is supposed to be fun!
@@seanhall8686 Haha dude, I needed that reminderrr. Thank youuu😂🤙🏻. And super appreciate the help
I clean moldy tapes all the time-the key is to use a vcr exclusively just for cleaning moldy tapes. Do not run moldy tapes through your daily viewing vcr. It is time consuming to repair moldy tapes but worth it! Also-I cleaned a Clownhouse tape that was caked with mold. You wouldn't even know it was bad. Sticky tape syndrome is much worse than mold!
Dude, I really appreciate that feedback many thanks! I've literally been driving myself MAD about this mold stuff lol. I gotta remember to just chill out and have fun with it. I get entirely freaked I'm gonna ruin my collection constantly lol. It's gonna take me some time but I'm definitely gonna try and learn to clean
tapes and mold, etc. I also can't
help thinking that I might have accidentally put a specky or slightly molded tape into my current vcr, any advice?